Las Vegas shooting victims: Portraits of the fallen

At least 59 people were killed and 527 were injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said.

These are the names and stories of those whose identities have been made public:

Hannah Ahlers, 35

Murrieta

Hannah Ahlers could be daring. The Murrieta, Calif., resident was part of a tightknit community of skydivers and enjoyed the outdoors. But a friend, Sunni Almond, said Ahlers also enjoyed simpler pleasures. She savored spending weekends lounging by the pool with friends and family.

“She was possibly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, with a heart to match,” Almond said. “She never came across with the diva mentality she easily could have had. She was a devoted mother and wife.”

Ahlers studied at Crafton Hills College and went to Redlands East Valley High School, according to her Facebook page.

She is survived by her husband of 16 years, Brian, and three children.

Dorene Anderson, 49

Anchorage

Stefanie Anderson posted a photograph of her family on Facebook with a sorrowful caption. The Andersons were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

“This is one of the last family photos we will take,” Stefanie Anderson wrote. “Sadly, my mom was one of the victims that did not make it.”

Dorene Anderson was a hockey booster in Anchorage and a self-described “stay-at-home wife and mother.” She had traveled to Las Vegas with her husband, John, and daughters Stefanie and Jessika, according to a friend. She was the only one shot.

Anderson had served as treasurer of the Cowbell Crew, a nonprofit organization based in Anchorage that supports local hockey teams.

“Dorene was ... a wonderful, generous person who was a friend to many,” said friend Marie English, who was also involved with the nonprofit group.

Anderson attended Tigard High School in Tigard, Ore., according to her social media profile. On Monday, Stefanie Anderson updated her Facebook profile with a photo of her and Dorene at a hockey game.

“You lit up her world,” Gayle Simmons White commented on the photo. “There was no end to her love for you and your sister and dad. She was by far the best person I've ever known.”

Carrie Barnette, 34

Riverside

Carrie Barnette was celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday in Las Vegas when she was shot in the chest. She died before reaching the hospital, her mother said.

She was the oldest of three children, and family was her priority, said her mother, Mavis Barnette.

“Beautiful child; she was my firstborn,” Mavis Barnette said. “She was always generous and helping everybody in every way. She loved her nieces and nephews and her sister and brother.”

Carrie, of Riverside, Calif., had worked at Disneyland for 11 years in food services and “she loved it there,” her mother said.

Mavis Barnette was almost asleep on Sunday night when she received a phone call around 11:30 from her daughter’s friend.

“She had told me she’d been shot. I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ … I said, ‘Where? When? What?’ And she told me she was shot in the chest.”

As of Monday evening, Mavis Barnette still had not received confirmation of her daughter’s death because she’s been unable to reach officials, despite repeated calls.

“Nobody has any idea where she’s at,” she said.

Still, based on what her daughter’s friend said, she is convinced her daughter is dead.

Carrie was also close to her grandparents, and had a hummingbird tattoo — their favorite bird — in their memory. Her Facebook wall is covered with messages of love from friends and family who say they take solace in her reunion with them.

“She was the kind of friend that everybody would want in their life. She was vivacious, caring, funny, sweet, energetic, creative, loyal, thoughtful, giving and full of life,” Carrie’s friend Nicole Johnson wrote in an email.

Johnson remembers the laughter she and Carrie always shared, whether at the Stage Coach music festival two years ago, or on a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

“I am going to miss her greatly,” she wrote.

Jack Beaton, 54

Bakersfield

Jack Beaton and his wife, Laurie, had been with friends celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary, which fell on Sunday, the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

That evening, Jack posted a picture of the group on Facebook, all smiles as they sipped beers and sprawled on the grass with the stage in the background. Laurie later posted that she was with her best friend and soul mate.

“Here’s to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more,” she wrote.

Less than an hour later, the shooting began. Jack tried to shield his wife with his body, according to Laurie’s parents.

“Jack got on top of Laurie to protect her. He laid on top of her and said, ‘Laurie, I love you.’ She said, ‘I love you too,’ and boom he got hit. I don’t know how many times,” said Jerry Cook, Laurie’s father.

The group separated as they sought shelter, and later tried to find Jack. But his body was gone. Laurie Beaton did not learn until Monday afternoon that her husband had been identified among the casualties.

Later Monday, Laurie Beaton flew to Phoenix to pick up daughter Delaney, a freshman at Arizona State University, and returned home to Bakersfield, where her son Jake attends college.

“Lost my best friend. I love you so much more then you could ever imagine,” Jake Beaton posted on Facebook, along with a collage of pictures of his father, mother, sister and himself. “Please watch over our family. You will forever be remembered as our hero! #atruehero”

Jack worked in construction and Laurie in human resources at an energy company. But their lives centered around their children, watching their daughter cheerleading or taking their son dirt-bike riding in rural areas near Bakersfield. “He had a heart of gold, he would do anything for those who he loved, his family, his friends, even for strangers,” she said.

— Seema Mehta

Denise Burditus

Martinsburg, W.Va.

Denise Burditus and her husband, Tony, held each other close and grinned big for a photo at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Mandalay Bay hotel in the background.

The West Virginia resident posted the picture on Facebook, not long before the shooting broke out.

She later died in her husband’s arms.

Jack Beaton, 54

Bakersfield

Jack Beaton and his wife, Laurie, had been with friends celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary, which fell on Sunday, the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

“Here’s to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more,” she wrote.

Less than an hour later, the shooting began. Jack tried to shield his wife with his body, according to Laurie’s parents.

Later Monday, Laurie Beaton flew to Phoenix to pick up daughter Delaney, a freshman at Arizona State University, and returned home to Bakersfield, where her son Jake attends college.

— Seema Mehta

Denise Burditus

Martinsburg, W.Va.

Denise Burditus and her husband, Tony, held each other close and grinned big for a photo at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Mandalay Bay hotel in the background.

The West Virginia resident posted the picture on Facebook, not long before the shooting broke out.

She later died in her husband’s arms.

“It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five this evening in the Las Vegas shooting,” Tony later wrote in his own post. “Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE.”

The two lived in Martinsburg and loved to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. She was a Seattle Seahawks fan and described herself on Facebook as semi-retired. In photos, she’s often surrounded by family, acting goofy, planting kisses on Tony.

Most recent posts on social media showed them poolside and out to dinner in Sin City.

“Oh Tony,” Tammy Petersen Hacker wrote on Facebook. “I just keep looking at the cool, beautiful pictures both you and Denise have been sharing of all the fun you were having … your loss is unfathomable.”

Sandy Casey

Manhattan Beach

Sandy Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years.

“She is loved by students and colleagues alike and will be remembered for her sense of humor, her passion for her work, her devotion to her students, and her commitment to continuing her own learning and to taking on whatever new projects came her way,” the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said in a statement. “She has made a tremendous difference in the lives of her students and their families, many of whom worked with her over multiple years.”

On Facebook on Monday, Sarah Kapusta called Casey her “best friend” during childhood. “Your loving spirit will always be a part of me. RIP,” Kapusta wrote.

The school district is offering counseling for students and staff.

“We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students,” Supt. Michael Matthews said in a statement.

— Melissa Etehad

Thomas Day Jr., 54

Riverside

Thomas Day Jr.’s four children — all in their 20s and 30s — were with him at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

“He was the best dad. That’s why the kids were with him,” said his father, Thomas Day Sr.

Day lived in Riverside and worked as a home builder. His father, who lives in the Las Vegas area, said he received a phone call about 11 p.m. Sunday telling him that his son was among those killed at the concert. Now he and his grandchildren grieve together.

The elder Day struggled to put words together to do his son’s memory justice. “His kids are with me right now. They’re crushed.”

— Benjamin Oreskes

Austin Davis, 29

Riverside

Austin Davis was a proud union man.

The the 29-year-old Riverside resident was a pipefitter for UA Local 364, which covers San Bernardino and Riverside counties, along with Edwards Air Force Base.

On Facebook he posted photos of himself at work and of the local union outfit’s insignia: A skull with an American flag do-rag with combustion lines running through the eyes. Two large wrenches cross behind the skull and below are the words “Union Til I Die.”

His girlfriend of nine years, Aubree Hennigan, commented on the photo: “Love your dedication baby!”

In May 2015, Davis became a journeyman pipefitter after years of training. He posted the news on Facebook and highlighted the increase in his pay that came with the promotion. One friend commented: “Congratulations to you my good man!”

Davis played softball and enjoyed fishing and skiing with his friends. He joined friends to attend the Route 91 Harvest festival.

Davis last called Hennigan around 8 p.m. Sunday. The gunfire started about two hours later.

“He just told me that Big & Rich was playing and he didn’t really care for them but they threw one hell of a concert,” Hennigan said. “That’s all he told me.”

When Davis couldn’t be reached, Hennigan traveled to Nevada to search for him. She eventually learned of his death, and Monday evening she wrote on Facebook: “Austin, my love, I can't believe this happened. You didn't deserve this.”

— Benjamin Oreskes

Stacee Etcheber, 50

Novato, Calif.

Stacee Etcheber was as likely to be seen cheering on her kids’ sports games as starting a fire on their school camping trips, or helping someone change the oil in their car.

The hairstylist, mother of two and wife of San Francisco Police Officer Vinnie Etcheber died in the Las Vegas massacre.

“Stacee was taken in a senseless act of violence as her husband, SFPD Officer Vinnie Etcheber, heroically rushed to aid shooting victims in Las Vegas on Sunday,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a statement. “Stacee was a beloved mother of two young children and a well-loved hairstylist in Marin County.”

She lived around the corner from San Ramon Elementary School, said Principal Amanda Langford. Both her children attended the school, and her youngest is in fifth grade.

“Stacee was a really intelligent, beautiful and caring mother,” Langford said. She was well-known for her involvement in the school and PTA, always making herself available to help students and families, or to chaperone field trips.

Her brother-in-law, Al Etcheber, announced her death on Facebook on Tuesday morning, after posting Monday that she was missing.

“It's with a heavy heart and deep sorrow, Stacee Etcheber has passed away,” he wrote. “We will dearly miss you.”

Dana Gardner, 52

Grand Terrace

When Bob Dutton became the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder-clerk, he knew a strong and experienced deputy would be essential to do the job.

Dana Gardner was just that person.

As the deputy recorder-county clerk, “she was one of my go-to people,” Dutton said. “If you needed advice or questions came up, she had the answer. She was my go-to person.”

Gardner, of Grand Terrace, had traveled to Las Vegas with one of her daughters to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival. After Gardner was wounded in the gunfire unleashed on the crowd, the daughter rode with her in the ambulance to the trauma center.

The daughter, who was unharmed, contacted Dutton’s office and said she and her mother had become separated.

About 7:30 a.m. Monday, one of Dutton’s colleagues received the news. Gardner was dead.

“You never think it’s going to be someone you know until it is,” Dutton said.

San Bernardino was the site of the terrorist attack that left 14 dead and 22 wounded in 2015.

On Monday, getting through the day was particularly difficult because Dutton said they couldn't just close the clerk's office. Everyone kept working, he said, even after they got received the horrid news.

Angela Gomez, 20

Riverside

Angela Gomez was a Riverside native who left a lasting impact on her high school classmates and teachers.

She graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 2015 and attended classes at Riverside Community College.

"Angie was a fun-loving, sweet young lady with a great sense of humor," her former cheer coach, Lupe Avila, said in an email. "Angie was a loyal friend who loved her family and will be forever missed by all those who knew her."

She challenged herself academically, enrolling in Advanced Placement classes, and "loved the stage" — she was involved in cheer, choir and the Riverside Children's Theatre, Avila said.

— Sonali Kohli

Charleston Hartfield, 34

Las Vegas

Las Vegas Police Officer Charleston Hartfield was off duty when he attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival, one of many law enforcement officers who went to the country music concert. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hartfield was a military veteran and coached youth football.

Hartfield posted a picture from the concert on Facebook before the gunfire broke out. As news of the massacre spread, friends began posting on Hartfield’s page, urging him to let them know he was OK. He never responded, and then friends started posting messages grieving his death.

“I don’t know a better man than Charles. They say it’s always the good ones we lose early. There’s no truer statement than that with Charles,” Hartfield’s friend Troy Rhett told the Review-Journal. “Our hearts have just been very heavy since hearing the news.”

— Seema Mehta

Jennifer Topaz Irvine, 42

San Diego

To Kyle Kraska, Jennifer Topaz Irvine was a smart woman who enjoyed life and brought joy to others.

“She was like a little sister,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Irvine was a family-law attorney in San Diego who did her undergraduate work at the University of San Diego and later the California Western School of Law, according to the Union-Tribune. As news spread of her death at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, friends and family went on Facebook to offer condolences and share memories of Irvine, whose interests outside the courtroom learned toward the athletic — yoga, snowboarding and taekwondo.

Thomas Slattery, a fellow attorney, wrote on his Facebook page: “My good friend, colleague, and business partner Jennifer Irvine was killed by a madman at the festival in Las Vegas. A tragic loss of a kind, generous, and beautiful lady. She will be greatly missed,” he wrote. “Rest in peace Topaz.”

— Seema Mehta

Jessica Klymchuk, 34

Valleyview, Canada

Jessica Klymchuk was a librarian and a bus driver who was raising four children on her own. Then she found someone to love.

His name was Brent Irla, and in April Irla announced on Facebook that the two were engaged.

“Since meeting Brent my world has changed,” Klymchuk wrote. “His smile is something I can’t live without.”

The couple were together in Las Vegas when the hail of bullets rained down on the crowd.

Klymchuk died Monday morning with Irla by her side, according to a family friend.

Klymchuk was a resident of Valleyview, a tight-knit town of about 2,000 people in central Alberta, Canada. Her death was confirmed by Rachel Notley, the premier of Alberta.

She worked at St. Stephen’s School, northwest of Edmonton. Her children attended the school.

“She was loved by the kids,” the Rev. Abraham Joseph told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

He said when staff and students heard the news Monday, the teachers were in tears and the children in shock.

Betty Turpin, superintendent of the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division, said in a statement: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. As well as all the families affected by this unimaginable attack.”

— Esmeralda Bermudez

Rhonda LeRocque, 42

Tewksbury, Mass.

Rhonda LeRocque of Tewksbury, Mass., was an active member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and worked at a Cambridge design firm. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she and her husband, Jason, helped rebuild homes in Louisiana.

“All I know is someone started shooting and people are running and she got shot in the head,” Carol Marquis, LeRocque’s grandmother, told the Boston Globe. “And we lost a dear, close, good person — one of the nicest people you will ever meet in your life.”

Her husband and her daughter were unharmed in the shooting, according to multiple media reports. LeRocque’s family struggled to understand the violence that broke out at the country music festival.

“It makes no sense. Why would he do this?” LeRocque’s sister Jennifer Zeleneski told the Boston Herald. “My sister didn't do anything. She never hurt people. She was the [kindest] person that I know.”

— Seema Mehta

Jordan McIldoon, 23

Maple Ridge, Canada

When Jordan McIldoon’s parents confirmed their son’s death to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., they summed up their pain and loss in 12 words.

“We had only one child,” Al and Angela said in a statement. “We just don’t know what to do.”

They described their son, a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice who was about to start a trade school, as a “self-described cowboy boot, tattoo-covered redneck who loved the outdoors.” He grew up on his family’s land in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Photos of McIldoon on social media show him in cowboy boots and on snowmobiles and motorcycles, often smiling big with an arm around his girlfriend, Amber Bereza.

Las Vegas had become an annual tradition for the couple, according to the Global News, and Sunday’s concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival was a few days before his birthday.

When McIldoon was among the hundreds struck by bullets at the concert, a bartender named Heather Gooze stepped in to help.

“I felt his fingers, like tighten and then loosen,” Gooze told the CBC.

When McIldoon’s phone rang in his pocket, she told the news agency, she answered and found out his name from the friend on the line. Gooze wrote McIldoon’s name on his arm, then searched for his family on Facebook.

She eventually reached Bereza, who was on lockdown nearby.

“Please be honest with me,” Bereza asked. “What’s going on?”

“I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this, but he didn’t make it,” Gooze said she told her.

McIldoon’s mother soon called and Gooze promised she would stay with McIldoon. She did for five hours.

Calla Medig, 28

Edmonton, Canada

Calla Medig was going to become a manager at Moxie's restaurant in Edmonton.

But before reaching that professional milestone Thursday, Medig was going to spend some time in Las Vegas.

She had gone to the Route 91 Music festival for three straight years. She and a friend decided to go again this year.

Her boss at Moxie’s, Scott Collingwood, grew concerned Monday morning when he couldn’t reach Medig. No texts were answered. Facebook messages went unread.

Finally, the friend who was with Medig at the festival called back and told Collingwood the news.

“She’s left a huge hole in our hearts,” Collingwood said of Medig. “She was an absolute fantastic lady.”

Now, Medig’s father is in Las Vegas arranging for her body to be returned to Canada.

Sonny Melton, 29

Tennessee

Sonny Melton was a nurse from Tennessee who saved his wife’s life before losing his own.

“He grabbed me from behind and started running when I felt him get shot in the back,” his wife, Heather Melton, told USA Today.

The couple worked at the Henry County Medical Center — she an orthopedic surgeon, he a nurse.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire HCMC family are with Sonny and Heather’s families,” Thomas Gee, CEO of Henry County Medical Center, said in a statement.

Melton was the president of his nursing class at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., according to a Facebook post from the college.

“You know how when you met someone and you just know that they’re good and kind? That was Sonny,” Christy Davis, an assistant nursing professor, said in the college’s statement. “He just had a sweet, kind spirit about him.”

A co-worker also posted her memories of Sonny Melton on Facebook.

“Sonny was such an amazing person and an amazing nurse,” Victoria Peyton Dowd wrote. “I'm thankful I had the pleasure of knowing such an awesome man.”

— Sonali Kohli

Adrian Murfitt, 35

Anchorage

Born and raised in Anchorage, Adrian Murfitt worked as a commercial fisherman. A fan of country music, Murfitt decided to travel with longtime friend Brian MacKinnon to Las Vegas to attend Sunday’s concert.

MacKinnon, 33, described his childhood friend as an animal lover and goofball. “He made me laugh. He was like an Alaskan cowboy, but when he saw a dog he’d turn into a 10-year-old kid,” MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon was with Murfitt when gunfire raked the crowd and said his friend died in his arms.

Other people described Murfitt as a caring person who went out of his way to help friends.

“Can’t describe in words how thankful and grateful I am to have you show me what a real true gentleman you are,” Christine Young said of Murfitt on Facebook. “I’ll keep the advice you gave me and I promise to take it as I go through life moving forward… you’ll be kept in a special place in my heart.”

Rachael Parker, 33

Manhattan Beach

Rachael Parker, a records technician at the Manhattan Beach Police Department, was among four off-duty department employees who attended the concert Sunday night. Two were shot — Parker and a sworn officer.

Parker died at a hospital, authorities said

Jennifer Parks, 35

Lancaster

Jennifer Parks had just started her third year of teaching kindergarten at Anaverde Hills School in Palmdale.

She was attending the Sunday night concert with her husband, who was injured in the shooting, Westside Union School District Supt. Regina Rossall said, and she has two children: one in the elementary school where she taught and one in high school.

Parks was “the kind of teacher everybody wants their children to have.” Rossall said. “Every child in her class was the most important child to her.”

“She just has a zest for life,” Rossall said before correcting herself. “Or, had a zest for life. I can’t even say it that way.”

The school district learned of Parks’ death Monday morning, and the school’s principal asked parents to talk to their children.

“Obviously [in] kindergarten that’s a hard concept to grasp,” Rossall said. A crisis counselor who is familiar with the school is also in the classroom Tuesday, she said.

Parks was “a blessing to our school district and our students,” Rossall said. “It is just unfortunate that she will not get to share her joy of learning with more students.”

— Sonali Kohli

John Phippen, 56

Santa Clarita

John Phippen of Santa Clarita was born in New York and later moved to California. He was the owner of JP Specialties, a home remodeling company in Santa Clarita.

He was dancing next to his son, Travis, at the country music festival in Las Vegas when he was struck by a bullet in the lower back.

Travis, an emergency medical technician, carried his father to a car that took them to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, where the elder Phippen died from his injuries.

“He was my best friend,” Travis said. “He never did anything wrong to anybody. He was always kind and gentle. He was the biggest teddy bear I knew.”

In the chaotic scene, Travis had been shot in the arm but didn’t realize it until he arrived at the hospital. He is staying with family in the Las Vegas area until the Clark County coroner releases his father’s body.

“We are all kind of in disbelief that it would happen to someone so gentle,” Travis said.

— Ben Poston

Quinton Robbins

Henderson, Nev.

Quinton Robbins was a recreation employee for the city of Henderson, near Las Vegas.

In a Facebook post early Monday, his aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, announced Robbins' death.

“My sweetest nephew has passed away. He was the most kind and loving soul. Everyone who met him, loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person,” she wrote. “He will be missed by so many, he is loved by so many.”

On Monday afternoon, his Facebook profile had been switched to a “memorialized account” — a virtual gathering place for friends and family to remember a person who has died.

One friend wrote on Twitter: "You set such a good example to me of how to love life and live it to the fullest every day."

Cameron Robinson, 28

St. George, Utah

Cameron Robinson was known for being spontaneous, smart and the life of any space he entered. On Sunday night, he lost his life while listening to country music.

On Tuesday, Las Vegas officials confirmed that Robinson, a management analyst in the city attorney’s office, had been killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival across from the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Robinson grew up in Henderson, Nev., and moved to St. George, Utah, recently to live with his partner, said Las Vegas City Atty. Brad Jerbic, his boss and friend.

Jerbic, who said Robinson would drive two hours to work each morning, met him about seven years ago and was immediately impressed.

“I thought, ‘He’s 21 years old and already has his bachelor’s,’ ” Jerbic said.

Despite a 30-year age difference, the two became friends, embarking on adventures together whenever Robinson got bored with the status quo, which was often, Jerbic said.

He would call and say, “We’re going hiking in the mountains,” Jerbic said. “He was just spontaneous, fun, really, really smart.”

Jerbic remembered one trip in particular, when the pair drove from San Diego to Laguna, where they went boogie-boarding. Suddenly, Robinson called out to Jerbic that he saw fins in the water; as Jerbic swam closer he saw dolphins, so close that he and Robinson could touch them.

About four years ago Jerbic had the opportunity to hire a records specialist and brought Robinson into the city attorney’s office.

“If there was a heart and soul of the office it was Cameron,” Jerbic said. He constantly brought in dishes he’d tried to perfect, and was the resident party planner — he was supposed to plan the Christmas party this year.

At 5 a.m. Monday, Jerbic’s son called him to make sure he was OK and told him about the shooting at the festival. As soon as Jerbic realized there had been an attack, he called to check on Robinson.

“It rang and rang and rang,” Jerbic said. He texted too. No response.

— Sonali Kohli

Rocio Guillen Rocha, 40

Eastvale, Calif.

Rocio Guillen Rocha would want to be remembered as a supermom.

“Her greatest accomplishment in life was being a mom,” said close friend Shannon Dahl.

Rocha had two teenagers, a 1½-year-old and her fourth child, a boy, who was born seven weeks ago. Rocha was still on maternity leave when she traveled to Las Vegas last weekend, according to NPR. She and her fiance, Chris Jaksha, were fans of country music and were celebrating a friend’s birthday. Rocha was shot in the thigh and Jaksha, with the help of police, got her to the hospital, where she died.

Rocha, a manager at the California Pizza Kitchen in Santa Ana, grew up in Anaheim and went to Katella High School. She worked hard at the restaurant, said Dahl, but still found time to attend her older boy’s sporting events. “She did whatever she could not to miss out on her children’s lives.”

“She was a great friend,” said Nicole Hill, who would exchange texts with Rocha each day with pictures of their children. “We were always joking about who would get pregnant next.”

She and Jaksha lived in Eastvale and planned on getting married in May, Hill said. But Rocha wanted to wait until after she had the baby.

“She evoked a spirit and light about her that made you feel better in life,” Dahl said. “She was a light that shined super bright and had an amazing personality. She just lifted you up.”

A family friend and relatives are caring for Rocha’s children, and two GoFundMe pages have been established to help support the family.

— Thomas Curwen

Lisa Romero

Gallup, N.M.

Lisa Romero worked as a secretary for Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup, N.M., where colleagues remembered her as a loving person who went out of her way to give advice to students.

Romero “was an incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students in many of our schools,” Mike Hyatt, interim superintendent of Gallup-McKinley, said in a statement. “As a colleague, she was also outgoing, kind and considerate of all those she worked with, and we will miss all of these great attributes she shared with students, staff and parents in our community.”

Teachers and administrators at the Miyamura High School, where she was based, visited students in their classrooms Monday to offer support.

In an interview via Facebook, Ryan Gomito, a history teacher at Miyamura, said the entire school was mourning her death.

In a public post about Romero, Gomito wrote that he could not believe what had happened: “Ms. Lisa Romero, you have touched so many lives,” he wrote. “Rest easy, Ma’am.”

Christopher Roybal, 28

Denver

U.S. Navy veteran Christopher Roybal had survived firefights with armed militants in the outer reaches of Afghanistan, and was one week shy of turning 29 when he traveled with his mother, Debbie Allen, to celebrate his birthday.

They checked into their room Sept. 28 and stayed on the 32nd floor at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino — the same floor where gunman Stephen Paddock had been staying, Allen said.

The Denver resident had a special relationship with his mother. “He was never ashamed to go out with me. We would go to bars together and concerts together,” Allen said. They often had date nights where they would watch chick flicks. “Our favorites were ‘The Notebook’ and ‘The Story of Us,’ ” Allen said.

On Sunday, Allen and Roybal spent the day lounging by the pool and drinking. Later they went to the hotel room to take a quick nap before the concert. That was the last time she saw her son. They had gone to the concert separately and were trying to meet up before gunfire erupted, Allen said.

“About four to five songs into Jason Aldean’s performance the shooting started and the girl to my left was shot,” Allen said. “I started running toward the street, but I turned around and tried to go against the crowd. I kept thinking that my baby is in there.”

A stranger grabbed Allen. “He said, ‘You can’t go back in there; you’ll get shot,’ ” Allen recalled.

She learned that her son was shot from a firefighter who had been trying to save his life amid the gunfire. “The fireman told me he tried to give my son first aid, but the life went out of him,” she said.

Roybal, who grew up in Corona, Calif., served five years in the Navy after enlisting in 2007, a period in which he earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to Navy records.

Having served in combat, he wrote a lengthy Facebook post July 18 to describe the nerve-racking experience — a message that now eerily reads like an epitaph.

“What's it like to be shot at? It's a nightmare no amount of drugs, no amount of therapy and no amount of drunk talks with your war veteran buddies will ever be able to escape,” he wrote. “Cheers boys.”

— Melissa Etehad and W.J. Hennigan

Infinity Communications and Consulting

Bailey Schweitzer, 20

Bakersfield

Bailey Schweitzer started work seven months ago as a receptionist at Infinity Communications and Consulting, a software company in Bakersfield. She quickly made an impression.

“Bailey was always the ray of sunshine in our office on a cloudy day,” said Chief Executive Fred Brakeman. “No one could possibly have a bad day when Bailey was around. If you have ever called or visited our office, she was the perky one that helped direct you to the staff member you needed.”

Friends and colleagues decided to hold a candlelight vigil Monday evening at the office where she worked.

— Melissa Etehad

Simi Valley Unified School District

Susan Smith, 53

Simi Valley

For most students and visitors to Vista Fundamental Elementary School in Simi Valley, Susan Smith was usually the first person they would see when they walked into the school.

“She was the office manager, which means she was the hub of the school. She was the center of it. Everyone who came through those doors she knew. She knew the children, she knew the staff, she knew the parents,” said Jake Finch, a spokeswoman for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

She was married with children, but Finch did not have details about the family. Smith had worked for the district for 16 years.

“She was great with the children, patient and kind. Her loss is huge to us,” Finch said.

Finch said administrators learned about Smith’s death overnight, and mobilized their crisis counseling team. Substitutes were brought in to staff every classroom at Vista so that the teachers could be gathered and told about Smith’s death. Counselors went to every classroom and told the children in an age-appropriate manner.

— Seema Mehta

After word of her death spread, a GoFundMe page was created to raise funds for her three sons. Tonks “brought joy, happiness, fun and laughter to so many of us,” a coworker wrote on GoFundMe. “She has always been there for her community in time of need, and now we would like to do the same for her.”

Friends flooded the fundraising page with photos, showing her grinning at parties. She lived in Las Vegas, and other photos showed her flashing a broad smile with friends at the Bellagio pool. "Always smiling! Always living!" one friend wrote.

— Laura J. Nelson

Bill Wolfe Jr., 42

Shippensburg, Pa.

Bill Wolfe Jr. was a father of two who happily gave up his free time to coach Little League baseball and youth wrestling, friends said.

Wolfe and his wife, Robyn, went together to the Route 91 Harvest festival. She was not injured, authorities said. But he was killed.

“He encouraged his kids to do their best,” said Wanda Neil Davenport, whose grandson wrestled with one of Wolfe’s sons. “The world has lost another good man, good father and husband. We all mourn with his family. He is in heaven and will watch down upon all of you. Heartbreaking from our family of wrestlers to his. God be with you.”

Neysa Tonks

Las Vegas

Neysa Tonks worked at Technologent, a technology company based in Irvine, and was the mother of three boys.

Tonks — known to her niece as “Aunt Ne-Ne” — had over the years shared dozens of photos of her children on Facebook, showing them hurtling down snowy hills on sleds, displaying gap-toothed grins at Boy Scout ceremonies, and — years later, and feet taller — standing with their mother on the beach.

. The sworn officer suffered minor injuries.

Parker worked for the Police Department for 10 years.

“She was just a great, great worker, always happy — definitely had her whole future ahead of her," said Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman Kristi Colombo. "I’m heartbroken and speechless.”

As a youth wrestling coach for the Shippensburg Greyhound wrestling team, Wolfe “was the kind of coach to pull the child aside and tell them what they did right and how proud he was of them and then follow it with a few tips on how to improve,” the aunt of a young wrestler posted on a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the Wolfe family.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement about Wolfe on Tuesday. “On behalf of our family and all Pennsylvanians, our hearts go out to the Wolfe family and the entire Shippensburg community,” the governor said on Facebook.........while we keep you witing for more updtes

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